Iran Beach Soccer Team, made history by lifting the Huawei Intercontinental Beach Soccer 2018 Trophy in Dubai after beating Russia 4-2 in the final on Saturday.
The atmosphere of the packed stands in the Kite Beach in Jumeirah was electrifying as both the Iranian and Russian fans made themselves heard even before the start of the match. for both sets of fans livened up the proceedings at the 3,500-seater, state of the art stadium with drum beats and horns.
Iran were 3-0 ahead in the first period as the Russians were stunned by the wave after wave of Iranian offensive moves. By the third period, Russia managed to pull 1 goal back to make it 3-1 but Iran scored again to make it 4-1
Russia, quite fatigued from yesterdays marathon and difficult win in the semi-final but s yet still determined to make a game of it against Iran, pulled one more goal back in the 3rd period to make it 4-2. After the Russian goal, they attacked in force but they were open for Iranian counter attack of which many chances were missed to increase Iran’s tally of goals.
At the end of the action-packed 36 minutes , it did not matter as the two goal victory margin was maintained by Iran until the end to win their second Intercontinental Beach Soccer Trophy after 2013. Ahmadzadeh lifted the cup as the players and Iranian fans rejoiced.
For the Asian champions and winners of the 2013 competition, it was the second win against Russia and the only unbeaten team in the tournament.